﻿KWEICHOW 
  PHEASANT 
  

  

  Phasianus 
  colchicus 
  decollatus 
  Swinhoe 
  

  

  Names. 
  — 
  Subspecific 
  : 
  decollatus, 
  uncollared, 
  or 
  lacking 
  a 
  collar. 
  English 
  : 
  Kweichow, 
  or 
  Chinese 
  Ringless 
  

   Pheasant. 
  

  

  Type. 
  — 
  Locality 
  : 
  Chungkin 
  in 
  Szechuan. 
  Describer 
  : 
  Swinhoe. 
  Place 
  of 
  Description 
  : 
  Proc. 
  Zool. 
  Soc. 
  

   London, 
  1870, 
  p. 
  135. 
  

  

  Subspecific 
  Characters. 
  — 
  Close 
  to 
  torquatus, 
  but 
  with 
  white 
  collar 
  usually 
  wholly 
  absent 
  ; 
  the 
  crown 
  is 
  

   dark 
  green 
  instead 
  of 
  pale 
  bronze 
  green, 
  and 
  the 
  margins 
  of 
  the 
  chest-feathers 
  very 
  broad 
  and 
  dark 
  green 
  instead 
  

   of 
  purple. 
  Near 
  the 
  Ichang 
  gorges, 
  in 
  the 
  Yangtze, 
  where 
  this 
  form 
  approaches 
  the 
  range 
  of 
  torquatus, 
  traces 
  of 
  

   the 
  white 
  collar 
  become 
  visible. 
  The 
  female 
  resembles 
  straucki, 
  but 
  the 
  black 
  patches 
  on 
  the 
  scapulars, 
  wing- 
  

   coverts 
  and 
  lower 
  back 
  are 
  larger 
  and 
  more 
  strongly 
  marked. 
  

  

  GEOGRAPHICAL 
  DISTRIBUTION 
  

  

  The 
  south-central 
  Chinese 
  provinces 
  of 
  Kweichow, 
  Western 
  Hunan 
  and 
  Kwangsi, 
  

   Eastern 
  Yunnan, 
  and 
  Szechuan 
  as 
  far 
  as 
  Tatsienlu. 
  Four 
  birds 
  have 
  been 
  secured 
  in 
  

   northern 
  Tongking. 
  

  

  GENERAL 
  ACCOUNT 
  

  

  Pratt 
  in 
  Szechuan 
  tells 
  us 
  that 
  this 
  pheasant 
  is 
  found 
  on 
  the 
  grassy 
  slopes 
  on 
  the 
  

   spurs 
  of 
  the 
  mountains 
  up 
  to 
  an 
  elevation 
  of 
  9,000 
  feet. 
  It 
  avoids 
  the 
  forest 
  regions, 
  

   preferring 
  bushy 
  fields, 
  and 
  in 
  confinement 
  it 
  always 
  roosted 
  on 
  the 
  ground. 
  

   Blackwelder 
  found 
  newly 
  hatched 
  chicks 
  at 
  Tahopa 
  on 
  7th 
  of 
  May. 
  

  

  SYNONYMY 
  

  

  Phasianus 
  decollatus 
  Swinhoe, 
  Proc. 
  Zool. 
  Soc. 
  London, 
  1870, 
  p. 
  135 
  (Sze-chuen) 
  ; 
  Elliot, 
  Proc. 
  Zool. 
  Soc. 
  

   London, 
  1870, 
  p. 
  408; 
  Swinhoe, 
  Proc. 
  Zool. 
  Soc. 
  London, 
  1871, 
  p. 
  398; 
  David, 
  N. 
  Arch. 
  Mus. 
  Bull., 
  VII. 
  1871, 
  

   p. 
  11 
  (Sze-cheun] 
  ; 
  Elliot, 
  Mono. 
  Phas., 
  II. 
  1872, 
  pi. 
  vii. 
  (text) 
  ; 
  David 
  et 
  Oustalet, 
  Ois. 
  Chine, 
  1877, 
  p. 
  411, 
  pi. 
  100 
  

   (partim, 
  cum 
  Phasianus 
  berezowskyi) 
  ; 
  Seebohm, 
  Ibis, 
  1888, 
  p. 
  314; 
  Seebohm, 
  Ibis, 
  1891, 
  p. 
  380; 
  Grant, 
  Cat. 
  

   Birds 
  Brit. 
  Mus., 
  XXII. 
  1893, 
  p. 
  331 
  ; 
  Grant, 
  Hand-book 
  Game-birds, 
  II. 
  1897, 
  p. 
  28; 
  Sharpe, 
  Hand-list 
  Birds, 
  

   Vol. 
  I. 
  1899, 
  p. 
  38; 
  Dresser, 
  Manual 
  Palae. 
  Birds, 
  1903, 
  p. 
  663; 
  Buturlin, 
  Ibis, 
  1904, 
  p. 
  409; 
  Blackwelder, 
  

   Research 
  in 
  China, 
  Vol. 
  I., 
  pt. 
  ii, 
  p. 
  489. 
  

  

  Phasianus 
  colchicus 
  decollatus 
  Hartert, 
  Nov.' 
  Zool., 
  XXIV. 
  1917, 
  p. 
  452. 
  

  

  